Letter to the Editor

LETTERS: MORE FIGURES ON BOTTOMLAND ACREAGE

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To the editor:

A note to clarify the response of Dr. James L. Fletcher to Dr. Kathleen Conway's suggestions of how the community might deal with the high school wetland issue is in order. In his response, Dr. Fletcher argues that bottomland hardwood forest losses this century have only amounted to 540,000 acres, not millions. Even if this were correct, these are a lot of acres.

However, if we consult the data on bottomland hardwood forest losses in Southeast Missouri presented by Korte and Fredrickson, we find that over 2.3 million have been lost. Even if we grant that 300,000 of these losses were prior to 1870, that leaves over 2 million since 1870, with over 1.5 million acres destroyed since the turn of this century.

When it comes to acres of loss of bottomland forest and dependent wildlife habitat, the timing is less critical than the reality that we have been responsible for it and it is gone. The data reveal that we have destroyed over two million acres of bottomland forest in the last 125 years, with most occurring this century. As we so often need to ask with habitat destruction, when is enough enough? And when will we see other values featuring prominently in private and public decision-making processes.

ALAN JOURNET

Cape Girardeau